Saturday, October 4, 2008

Community Garden Bulb Blitz

The Community Garden has been weeded! I dropped off invitations to a garden clean-up day to all of the original community gardeners involved with the plot. While I was doing some preliminary work, I also extended invitations to anyone who walked by and expressed even a slight interest in gardening. In the end, the garden clean-up day was attended by one person: me. So pardon the boasting: I'm taking full credit for the weeding job (and believe me it was a big one! I even got a nasty skin rash -- poison ivy, poison oak, I don't know -- to prove it.)

Once the weeds were cleared away, I found some nasturtiums that had obviously been struggling to bloom. Just a few days after the weeding though, even with temperatures dropping, they were looking much happier. The whole purpose of the weeding was to clear the way for some spring bulbs.

Armed with an actual planting plan (!), I set off to plant more than one hundred daffodil and tulip bulbs. I planted the bulbs in groups of five to eight all along the front of the border. I'm hoping for a colourful spring display but there's no way of knowing. The soil in the community garden barely qualifies as soil. I amended it with compost from my garden so I hope that helps. I also added a sprinkling of hen manure pellets to each hole. While I was determined to plant mostly pest-resistant daffodils, I planted just as many tulips. I was careful to plant deeply and to pack down the dirt firmly all around in hopes that the squirrels don't discover them. But squirrels are always a wild card.

So here's what's been planted in the community garden. 30 Narcissus "Carlton"

30 Narcissus "Ice Follies"

30 "Pretty Woman" Tulips

16 "Princess Irene" Tulips

16 "Negrita" Tulips

I carefully marked each group of bulbs with a labeled popsicle stick (I should really follow my own example and do this is my own garden.) The sticks are the only things that will be sprouting for a while. My afternoon in the "community garden of one" was most enjoyable. I'll try to kick-start neighbourhood involvement again with a mini-bulb blitz or leaf-mulching day later in the month. In the meantime, I'm shifting into clean-up mode in my own garden and getting ready to do the bulb blitz all over again.

4 comments:

Another spring display on the way. I try to foil the squirrels by 'covering' my planting tracks too but I think they have tulip radars inside those little rodent noses. Some years, I'm lucky. Others...

How neatly done (compared to frantic digging in the dirt and the terrible 'bulbing spree' I've been caught into). Can't wait for the spring to show just how good your green thumb is. And a credit to yourself for saving those poor Nasturtiums and letting them breathe in some freedom and sunshine. Well done!